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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · perch · cell · date · tear · race

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — the fruit
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. perch — the fish
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — humankind
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. race — a contest
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cell — in biology

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com